SLAMMED HOME: Carmelo Anthony slams home two of his 24 points with Jeff Green draped on his back during the Knicks’ 108-89 victory over the Celtics last night. Photo: Getty Images

Thirty-one days ago, if someone had asked you the question — “Say, what do you suppose the Knicks’ record will be in March?” — and if you had replied thusly to that question — “Why, I believe they’ll win 12 and lose six!” — there would have been only three options for you:

1) Permanent membership in the Optimists Club.

2) Prescription eyewear of the rose-colored variety.

3) Glassware that is eternally half full.

Except … well, it’s March. Funny things happen in March. Wichita State is going to the Final Four. Baylor and Brittney Griner lost in the Sweet 16, which would have been akin to UCLA and Lew Alcindor getting knocked off by Pacific back in the day. Vernon Wells is a Yankee. Darrelle Revis is still a Jet. Funny, funny things.

And so when the Knicks splattered the Celtics at the Garden last night, drilling them 108-89 to win their eighth straight game, that is exactly what happened: They finished the month 12-6. Eighteen games in 31 days was supposed to be a killer. And when Knicks started dropping like duckpins, there was no telling how bad it could get. I even seem to remember a wise scribe or two invoking the nautical wisdom of Micheal Ray Richardson, and his belief in the buoyancy of a basketball team …

“It’s huge,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said later on. “It makes me believe we are committed as a unit. We knew it’d be a tough month, but we’re playing like we’ve got something to accomplish. It was a great month.”

He paused. Smiled.

“Now,” he said, “we gotta figure out April.”

This has been the way of the Knicks across the season’s first 72 games, hasn’t it? Whaddaya got. Is that all ya got? Most NBA teams are allowed to simply play the games on their schedule, and win them as they come. The Knicks? It seems like from the start, critics have been bemoaning the quality of their wins, the strength of their schedule, as if every team in the East doesn’t play essentially the same schedule, as if they’d bought a few guarantee games against Prairie View A&M, as if they had to worry about their RPI ranking.

Have they beaten some bad teams? Sure. Miami has beaten the same bad teams. So has Indiana. If the Nets (who’ve lost to the Timberwolves and Wizards) or Celtics (who’ve lost twice — TWICE! — to the woeful Bobcats) had beaten a few more of them, maybe the Atlantic Division would be a race right now, maybe the Knicks’ magic number to clinch would be larger than six over the Nets and one over the C’s.

But they’ve survived, they’ve thrived, they’ve recaptured about 95 percent of the form that had them serving as leaguewide darlings in November and December. The schedule does stiffen somewhat — between now and this time next week, they’ll play at Miami, at Atlanta, at Oklahoma City — but suddenly even the tough patches don’t seem so daunting. It is amazing what playing well can do for a team.

“They do a great job of moving the ball,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers marveled. “They had the spirit of the pass all night.”

And there’s more: After seeming to go along with the rest of the NBA — Whaddaya got. Is that all ya got? — and looking for 4 1/2 months like a team still finding itself, the Knicks seem — and sound — a lot more sure of themselves now. It’s not a bad time for that to happen. The division is within reach. And when they returned to the locker room after the final buzzer last night, they were greeted by a none-too-subtle message: a big “50,” drawn in blue magic marker by Rasheed Wallace.

A few weeks ago, reaching 50 wins seemed absurd; now all they need is a 4-6 finish.

“That’s a great accomplishment in this league,” Carmelo Anthony said.

“That’s a good goal for this team,” Ray Felton said. “It hasn’t been done here in 10 years.”

Actually it has been 13 years, and has felt like 30, and the vibes around this team are starting to feel good again, sweet again. Sure, April could be a bear. But March was supposed to break them. Yet here they are: unbroken. And playing some damn good basketball.